Training and Development

Training and Development This is the most frequently used and focused subsystem of HRD. It has been to significant significant that in past HRD was equated in some companies with training. Induction Training It is is a process of welcoming a new employee to the the organization and to acquaint to the organization and his job. job. After joining a post, the employee should be given necessary induction training - need for the same is 1} To inform the employee employee the terms and conditions conditions of his his employment & the job requirements, environments. 2} To help him in in gaining confidence in his work and the organization he has joined. Induction training is is also given to an employee employee who gets promoted promoted to a supervisory position from from a lower lower rank. It is the responsibility of the personnel department to arrange for for such orientation, the line managers should take interest in orienting the subordinates assigned to the departments for ultimately they are responsible for the better performance of new entrants. Induction relates to -Informing the achievement of other seniors and Co¶s recognitions towards each and showing them the way to achieve the same

Making them to know about their their team leader requirements, risk involved, ways of co-ordination in view of overall performance levels To make them comfortable with the Co¶s professional environment together with improvement areas etc., Training System and its Elements - A Systematic Training Cycle Identify Training Needs

Evaluate Training Outcomes

Plan & Design

Deliver Training

Periodical meetings with group heads. Analysation of skills skills of the employees employees who require training & successfulness of previous training programmes Cost involved

Factors considered for Evaluating Induction Programme undergon

Making them to know about their their team leader requirements, risk involved, ways of co-ordination in view of overall performance levels To make them comfortable with the Co¶s professional environment together with improvement areas etc., Training System and its Elements - A Systematic Training Cycle Identify Training Needs

Evaluate Training Outcomes

Plan & Design

Deliver Training

Periodical meetings with group heads. Analysation of skills skills of the employees employees who require training & successfulness of previous training programmes Cost involved

Factors considered for Evaluating Induction Programme undergon

In order to analyse Induction programme, the following factors are Considered:

Adequacy of   programme duration

Organizational Involvement

Usefulness of   programme

Induction  programme

Execution of   programme

Superiors Involvement

Inputs Training needs are identified on the basis of performance gaps in the  previous year and performance opportunities for the next year; these are assessed through performance appraisals and come as inputs to the training subsystem.

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Training needs are assessed on the basis of potential appraisal exercises and assessment centers.

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Training needs are assessed on basis of technological changes in the organization, strategic moves and other changes in the environment.

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Training needs are assessed on the basis of the norms, values and other cultural aspects the organization wants to develop in its members.

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Outputs 

 New

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 New

Competencies acquired by the employee Competencies acquired by the teams and the organization as a whole. These new competencies are expected to become the inputs for improved performance, cost reduction, speed, efficiency and quality improvement in the products or processes.

Elements Methods of identifying training needs: performance appraisals, training need identification surveys, organizational diagnosis surveys etc., The training department or training center in the case of large organizations. The training manager or the HRD staff handling the training subsystem and their own competencies. The faculty and their competencies. The training methods and strategies used. The trainers and their competencies Training evaluation methods Processes The processes essentially deal with the organization of the above elements and the rules, procedure and steps that govern their use. 

Method of determining training needs

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The Timing

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The method of using the training needs to prepare training plans. Etc.,

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Method of sponsoring the employee for training

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Pre-training preparation is required

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Process of evaluating it

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Follow up methods

Factors Considered in Evaluating Training & Development programme In order to analyse Training & Development programme, the Following factors are considered :

3. Duration of   programme

2. Coverage of  Subject matter 

Training & Developmen

1.  Number of  Trainees Per  Session

4. Methods & Aids used

5. Superiors help during

Factors for evaluation with respect of respondents feedback is shown  below:

Managerial Skills Development Develo ment

Improvement Present Job Performance

Training & Development  programme

Interest in Attending More r ramme

Overall Satisfaction with regard to Programme

1 TRAI NI NG A ND DEVELOPME NT - IT¶S ROLE I N ACHIEVI NG OR GA NISATIO NAL SUCCESS What happens if we invest in training and developing our people and they leave? What happens if we don¶t and they stay? Is investment in the area of training and development linked to the bottom line within the business? Increasingly, high performing organisations today are recognising the need to use best training and development practices to enhance their competitive advantage. Training and development is an essential element of  every business if the

value and potential of it¶s people is to be harnessed and grown. Many studies have highlighted the clear links between well designed and strategic training and development initiatives and the bottom line within the business. The image of an industry and of individual employers is also influenced by the extent and quality of  staff training and development. Potential employees in such an open labour market will assess the track record of prospective employers in this vital area. Career   progression and development is an increasingly attractive or even  basic requirement for many such employees. In today¶s business climate where all industries are experiencing staff and skills shortages, companies are faced with stiff internal and external competition for quality employees. Each employer who invests seriously in

the area of Training and Development will reap the benefits of an enriched working environment with higher levels of staff retention as well as increased productivity and  performance. In a recent IBEC survey (HR Benchmarking Report 2004), respondents were asked to identify the key drivers of training initiatives over the past year  and for the 12 month   period ahead. The top three were health and safety, technical changes and customer  service. In other words, organisations are now using training and development as an incentive to retain and motivate their people and to be recognised as an employer of  choice as well as giving staff the skills and knowledge needed to keep up with technological change and customer service. A further key finding in this survey was

that the vast majority of companies surveyed (9 out of 10) stated they provided support to employees to pursue outside educational programmes. This support consisted of both financial aid as well as time off for both study and exam leave. Both of these initiatives may have benefits which are difficult to quantify, but areas such as staff turnover and morale are clear indicators of success in this field. While research indicates an increased interest in and awareness of  the benefits of  training, the question needs to be asked as to whether this translated into Irish organisations establishing training policies and / or increasing their spend on training? A  National Survey of Training and Development in Ireland conducted by Garavan and Heraty in 2003 outlined a number of key trends which are emerging in the

Training arena in Ireland. Some of the key ones include the following : 1. I NTRODUCTIO N Changes in technology, especially information technology, generate knowledge spreading up at tremendous speed, as well as its quick obsolence. In the period between 1900 and 1950, the amount of human knowledge doubled, and since then it has doubled every 5 to 8 years. Knowledge is becoming obsolete so quickly that all of us need do double our knowledge every 2 to 3 years in order to keep up with the changes. [6] On the other hand, the increasing complexity, turbulency and uncertainty of the environment requires different and greater knowledge. Modern business requires more and more knowledge and skills that are still inadequatly  present in the formal school education,

i.e. the gap between business reqiurements and the knowledge acquired at school is growing. Received September 22, 2007 210 J. VEMI The period of mass producing is over and the customers are very selective. Increased consumer demands require new solutions and knowledge. Due to increasing competition, the organization is required to constantly revise its product and service mix, managerial methods, and to increase productivity. Modern conditions of dynamic competition, sophisticated information technology, knowledge economy, market globalization, has changed the relation to importance of human resources in organization. These conditions actualize the human capital as the strategic resource of every organization. Differences between the organizations exist exactly due to the differences  between human capital, i.e. the organizations

human resources, ways of their management and development. In a more and more global, complex and turbulent environment, knowledge is the only reliable source of competitive advantage. Traditional factors of manufacturing as the soil, labor and capital did not disappear, but their significance is not primary anymore. Knowledge is viewed as the key of realization of a competitive advantage. And therefore the question of where the corporative knowledge is located, how to release it and develop to achieve organizational goals has become very important. Since the organizational knowledge is largely located inside the human mind, i.e. the head of employees, as carriers of  knowledge and activities, human resources are becoming the key factor of business success. Organizational development is always conditioned by human knowledge and

skills. That is why, contemporary organizations pay more and more attention to the development of their emplozees. Thus, employee education and training are becoming an optimal answer to complex business challenges, and the management of human resources is taking central role in modern management. Through the process of employee training and development, the management of human resources  provides constant knowledge innovation, creates conditions for mutual knowledge and experience exchange and  proactive behaviour, in this way contributing to competitive advantage and satisfaction of  all participants in business procedures. As a consequence of these procedures a learning organization has formed. The aim of  this paper is to point to the fact that education and development of human potential are

the basic factor for creation of basis for transformation from traditional to a learning company. Learning organization is organization that  promotes learning of all of its members and it transforms permanently. Individuals and societies that do not have enough knowledge are in inferior position, compared to societies and organisations that have it and even permanently acquire new knowledge. That is the reason why we say that success is not among the educated but among those that are learning permanently, and everything changes except knowledge acquirement, which is constant. The fore mentioned statements in the best way show the direction in which learning organizations move. 2. EMPLOYEE TRAI NI NG A ND DEVELOPME NT Understanding the phenomenon of employee training and development requires

understanding of all the changes that take place as a result of learning. As the generator of  new knowledge, employee training and development is  placed within a broader strategic context of human resources management, i.e. global organizational management, as a  planned staff education and development, both individual and group, with the goal to  benefit both the organization and employees. To preserve its obtained positions and Employee Training and Development and the Learning Organization 211 increase competitive advantage, the organization needs to be able to create new knowledge, and not only to rely solely on utilization of the existing. [10] Thus, the continous employee training and delopment has a singnificant role in the

development of individual and organizational  performance. The strategic procedure of employee training and development needs to encourage creativity, ensure inventiveness and shape the entire organizational knowledge that  provides the organization with uniqueness and differentiates it from the others. Education is no longer the duty and privilege of those in higher positions and skilled labour, but it is becoming the duty and need of everyone. The larger the organizations, the more funds they spend on education and provide their  employees with greater and diverse  possibilities of education and development. Understanding the tremendous significance of  education for the modern organization and confident that it represents a good and remunirative investment, present day organizations set aside more and more resources for 

this activity. Most of the organizations invest 3 to 5% of  their revenue into adult education. It is estimated that the organizations that desire to keep the pace with changes need to provide their employees with 2% of total annual fund of working hours for  training and education. [9] Thus, it is necessary to accept the model of permanent, continuous learning. That truth has been known for more than two centuries. Denis Diderot, a French philosopher and literate of the Age of  Enlightment, wrote the following: "Education shouldn't be finished when an individual leaves school, it should encompass all the ages of life...to provide people in every moment of their life with a possibility to maintain their knowledge or to obtain new knowledge". [4] The only way for present day organizations to survive is the imperative to innovate or 

 perish. Since this depends on the knowledge the organization possesses, this imperative could be read as: learn faster than competition. The logical sequence is: knowledge creation ± innovation ± competitive advantage. If  knowledge is good, is it not true that the more knowlegde we have, the better we are? Many organizations which consider knowledge as a good thing are trapped into the pitfall of gathering as much knowledge as possible. Knowledge that is not necessary is exatly what it is: unnecessary. And the efforts to obtain it are wasted efforts. The only important knowldege is the knowledge with strategic importance to the company, knowledge that helps to increase the value of the company, knowledge with significance to the strategy of the company. It is not about knowledge for the sake of knowledge, but rather knowledge according

to the needs, applicable knowledge, knowledge to create innovation and competitive advantage. [8] Obtaining knowledge, learning, education, all could have a real effect on the quality of labour only if they are harmonized with the needs of a particular  organization, its goals and the goals of its employees. The further choice of educational contents and educational methods, and the efficiency of  educational effectiveness control depend on clearly defined educational goals and needs, answers to the questions of which knowldege is necessary to realize the strategy and the survival of the organization in general, which employees need to possess this knowledge and will this knowledge solve certain problems. Employee training and development does not imply only obtaining new knowledge,

abilities and skills, but also the possibility to promote entrepreneurship, introduce employees to changes, encourage the changes of their  attitude, introduce the employees to important business decisions and involve them actively in the process of decision making. 212 J. VEMI [3] To precisely define expectations and attract skilled workforce, more and more employment advertizings offer a certain number of  annual hours or days for education. The most wanted resources are the people with particular  knowledge, skills and abilities. Managers must learn to manage them, and the organizations to employ and retain them. Knowledge based organizations must preserve their  competitive advantage by retaining skilled workforce, workers of knowledge, strengthening their motivation and improving the reward and compensation systems according to the workers' performances.

Within the context of learning organization, it is not sufficient for the worker only to add value to the organization based on his knowledge,  but he also has to receive knowledge. He gives as much knowledge as he receives. For the present day employees the wage by itself is not a sufficient incentive, but they also need investment into themselves in a sense of investing in their knowledge. Empolyees no longer work for  money alone, nor can they be influenced by traditional attractive financial packages. 3. CO NCEPT OF A LEAR  NI NG OR GA NIZATIO N Every individual should appreciate lifelong learning, and every successful organization has to become a permanently learning organization. Many successful organizations describe themselves as learning organization or one of their  strategic goals is to become such an

organization. Companies such as Coca-Cola, Motorola, General Electrics and Cisco have assigned vice presidents for knowledge, learning or  intellectual capital whose task is to create knowledge management systems that enable them to quickly adopt development tendencies, influencing in that way the customers, competitors, distributors and suppliers. The organization is not only the user of knowledge, but also its creator. According to the views of Peter Senge described in the book named "The Fifth Discipline", the learning organization implies free flow of knowledge, i.e. lifting of all barriers on developing knowledge and new ideas at the very beginning. [7] In the future it will not be possible to "unthread things from above" and for all the others to follow the "big brother's" instructions anymore. The top organizations of the future will be distinguished by their knowledge about

how to encourage engagement and develop the learning  potential on each organizational level. Peter Senge's model of a learning organization is very interesting since it recognizes the organization as a whole, i.e., in his organization, through their functions and sectors within the organization, all the employees influence the course of business procedures, and the knowledge creation, consequently the creation of  new values both for the organization and its customers. With this definition, Senge has made significant qualitative progress compared to the classical organization, since he emphasized the necessity of ability development through the process of learning. Besides Senge, Chris Argyris was a great popularizer of  a learning organization as well. In his book "Teaching smart people how to learn", he says: "Any company that

aspires to succeed in the tougher business environment must first resolve a basic dilemma: success in the marketplace increasingly depends on learning, yet most people don't know how to learn. What's more, those members of the organization that many assume to be the  best at learning are, in fact, not very good at it. I am talking about the well-educated, highpowered, highly committed professionals who take up key leadership  positions in the modern corporation." [1] Employee Training and Development and the Learning Organization 213 Organizations learn only through the learning individuals. Individual learning does not guarantee organizational learning. But without it there is no organizational learning as well. The ablity to learn faster than the competitors may  be the only sustainable competitive

advantage. Thus, the learning organization is the organization that learns and encourages  people to learn in the organization. It motivates information exchange between employees and creates staff with different knowledge. Chris Argiris explains this: "On the other  hand, there is a problem of existence of individuals within the organization who know how to learn, but that doesn't create automatically conditions for the organization to learn as well. This is due to the indisputable view that knowledge is still the only private property the man owns. This means that individual learning, and even learning of all the employees, doesn't imply the existence of a learning organization. To have a learning organization, it is necessary to know how to transfer individual into organizational knowledge, i.e. into organizational learning." [1]

The starting point of knowledge management concept is in the fact that power does not come from knowledge, but from the exchange of  knowledge. It starts from the synergic effect. By exchanging knowledge, combining individual knowledge, we get much more qualitative knowledge than the individual knowledge. Obtaining and sharing knowledge is the core of the learning organization. The reasons to become a learning organization are the following: people are developing (greater motivation, flexibility of employees, people are more creative, improved social interaction), better working teams and groups (knowledge sharing, mutual dependence),  benefiting organizations (greater work productivity, more qualitative products/services/  procedures, competitive advantage, profit). [4] 4. APPROACH TO TRAI NI NG A ND DEVELOPME NT WITHI N OUR OR GA NIZATIO NS

A ND  NEED FOR TRA NSFORMATIO N Unfortunately, the procedures of employee training and development within our  organizations are undeveloped. They are mainly  performed occasionally, and not connected with organizational strategy, nor do they have some strategic significance. They are mostly enforced when such business problems occur or are perceived that are considered relievable or solvable by organizing a training, course or seminar for some of  the employees. Employees view the training as an imposed obligation, rather than a way to maximize their potential and they do not realize that  by improving their performances and innovation of their knowledge they may contribute to better business results of the organization they belong to. Unfortunately, top managers do not realize this as well. From

their relationship with the employees it is plain to see that the employees are still treated as an expense, rather than an investment worthy of  investing. In our organizations there is no culture of obtaining and sharing of knowledge. [11] Many of our managers are under the influence of   prejudices such as: training is expensive, training is an expense burdening the current  business, it is not rewarding, training is for the young, etc. Knowledge is expensive,  but ignorance is even more expensive. Human possibilites to learn are unlimited, unless idviduals do not limit their  abilities within their minds. Many studies have shown that investing in employee training and development has larger business effects than investing in equipment and other 214 J. VEMI material resources. Our organizations must harmonize their approach to employee

development with the changes. Employee training and development has to be connected with the organizational goals and strategy, they need to fulfill the new reqiurements of the environment. Employee training and development needs to become a managerial function. It is a managerial challenge to consider the employees of  the organization from a strategic  perspective (future orientedness) and constantly monitor  and encourage the development of new skills and knowledge as the foundation of  organizational development. This is not about assigning the employees to appropriate  jobs, but rather about the constant dynamic of encouraging and discovering new  possibilities. This is a new type of  leadership, significantly different from the classical model of organizational management. The leaders are no longer expected to be all-knowing  bosses and supervisors, but rather 

moderators and inspirators. Since people do not share the information which is the source of their power instictively, the leaders need to recognize, attract and release knowledge in the organization. One of the main challegnes of modern organizations therefore is how to manage the process of knowledge transfer. "The answer  is that wisdom, just because it is the most important, doesn't need to be located inside a tall building where the chief  executive and his main assistants hang their hats (and soon their heads as well ± unless they join the revolution of the mind). [5] This  pictoresque answer of Tom Peters refers to decentralization and substantivity of employees (turning every workplace into business), which implies a high degree of employee competence and orientation toward the  participative style of management.

The process of democratisations, transitions, opening towards the EU, privatisations and arrival of foreign companies and praxis contributed considerably to transformation of  approach to employee training and development within our organizations, from the ad hoc  processes that originate from the goals and strategies, to a modern approach where human resources and their knowledge are gaining more and more significance. 5. CO NCLUSIO N Business conducting and survival in the present day turbulent environment are relying on organizational knowledge in a sense of a giving timely and aproppriate answer to challenges. The ability of individuals and organizations to obtain and master new knowledge has become the key comparative advantage. The concept of knowldege

management and management of human resources, especially the function of employee training and development within the learning organization, are engaged with the basic resource of modern business, i.e. with knowledge and its utilization. Renewing knowledge is an imperative for the organization, and not an option. The rate of learning has to be greater than the rate of changes. Training and development of employees is a continuous  procedure which is the only meaningful and logical approach in the condition of  knowledge obsolescence, dynamic changes and increasing need for constant product and service innovations. Human resources represent intellectual capital which is the new source of organizational resources, and the organization could increase them only through training, development and motivation of employees. The  prosperity of organizations becomes explicitly dependent